The Pacific Palisades fire destroyed the building housing Belmont Music Publishers, the exclusive publisher of physical works by early 20th century composer Arnold Schoenberg. The fire consumed Belmont’s entire inventory of sales and rental materials, including manuscripts, scores and other printed works, the publisher said.
“For a company that focused exclusively on the works of Schoenberg, this loss represents not just a physical destruction of property but a profound cultural blow,” said a press release written by Schoenberg’s son, Larry, who also lost his home in the fires, according to his nephew E. Randol Schoenberg.
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Despite the loss of its physical inventory, Belmont Music said it already has plans to rebuild the collection digitally, ensuring the music of Schoenberg — the author of the twelve-tone technique of composition — remains accessible to scholars, performers, and music enthusiasts.
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
